Fire-fighting vehicles, for example Aircraft Rescue Fire-Fighting (ARFF) vehicles, are specialized vehicles that carry water and foam with them to the scene of an emergency. Most commonly, ARFF vehicles are commissioned for use at an airfield, where the location of an emergency (e.g., an airplane crash, etc.) can vary widely, thereby prompting the transport of fire-fighting materials and personnel to the emergency site. ARFF vehicles are heavy-duty vehicles in nature and are able to respond at high speeds to reach even remote areas of an airfield quickly.
Aircraft fuselages are often configured to partially or completely seal their interior from their surroundings (e.g., to facilitate pressurization of a passenger cabin). Accordingly, conventional fire suppression methods (e.g., spraying water from a distance) can be ineffective when combatting a fire located on the interior of such a fuselage. To facilitate suppression of such fires, some ARFF vehicles are equipped with a penetrating nozzle mounted near an end of a boom assembly. The penetrating nozzle is configured to penetrate the fuselage of an airplane and supply fire suppressant (e.g., foam, water, etc.) to the interior of the fuselage. Due to the round shape of a typical aircraft fuselage, the penetrating nozzle may fail to penetrate the fuselage if aligned at a shallow angle relative to the exterior surface of the fuselage. Conventionally, the boom assembly and the penetrating nozzle are aligned manually by an operator located a distance away from the penetrating nozzle (e.g., in a cabin of the ARFF vehicle). The alignment may occur at night or in rain or snow, obstructing the operator's view of the penetrating nozzle. Additionally, manual operation of such penetrating nozzle requires significant training. Accordingly, operators often experience difficulty properly aligning a penetrating nozzle, causing delays during time-sensitive emergency situations and potential damage to the penetrating nozzle.